Remember God’s Faithfulness (Psalm 77:13-14)
- Patrick Dirrim
- Oct 26
- 3 min read
Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? ¹⁴You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. —Psalm 77:13-14
In our passage, the psalmist is crying out to God in his time of trouble. We aren’t told the cause of his trouble, but we know it is extreme in that he refuses to be comforted (v. 2) and cannot even speak (v. 4). Clearly, he is under great duress.
It's a help to consider how he works through his deep sadness. Asking himself if the Lord will spurn him forever, the psalmist begins to meditate on God and His amazing works as a means of turning his sadness into hope and his sorrow into joy (v. 12). Acknowledging God’s perfect holiness, the psalmist asks if there is a god like our God (v. 13). Not needing to answer that question, he begins to describe God as one who works wonders, who has made His might known among the peoples (v. 14). For the balance of the chapter, then, he recounts what God has faithfully done in the past for His people.
Like the psalmist, in our times of sadness and despair, we can look at what God has done in the past in order to renew our hope in Him. But unlike the psalmist, we have the single greatest event in all of redemptive history to recount. God’s might was most manifest in the power of Jesus Christ and His atoning death and resurrection. Jesus accomplished the culmination of redemptive history on the cross. Now we have the privilege of living in a time when we can look back on what has already been done.
Like the psalmist before us, we can look back. But our gaze is even better as we consider what our wonder-working God has done through Christ in saving a people for His glory and for their joy. May our hope and confidence in God be like that of Abraham, whose faith grew strong as he was convinced that God was able to do what He had promised (Romans 4:21).
It's instructive to note that at the end of this psalm of lament there is no resolution. For those who are followers of Jesus Christ, we do know what the ultimate resolution will be. Regardless of the plight that God may have ordained for us while on earth, we know that one day we will be in His presence where there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). Until that day, may we all continue to look back upon the mighty and wonderful works of our holy God!
For Reflection
How might meditating on God's leading His people like a flock (v. 20) have comforted the psalmist?
How does meditating on what God has done in the past serve to comfort us for the future?
Are you experiencing sadness or lack of hope? What works of God from the past most encourage you?
Patrick Dirrim helped to start Grace Fellowship church, with his wife Barbara 22, years ago. They have worshipped there ever since, outside of the two years when they served as missionaries in Guatemala. They've been married for 30 years and have seven childre and two grandchildren. Grace Fellowship, Cumming, GA has been using Truth78 curriculum from the start and the Dirrims have introduced it to many other churches, as well as trained others how to use it.
